Royal Mail’s Landmark Buildings are BREEAM Certified

Last month Royal Mail launched a Special Stamp set to celebrate 10 buildings that represent a resurgence of contemporary architecture in the UK from recent years. The Landmark Buildings issue uses photography to capture remarkable structures from all over the country.

Royal Mail says “All the buildings in the set are famous landmarks and a great many of these structures, serving culture, sport, government and business, have since become popular and integral parts of their local landscapes, often playing a part in regeneration.” (Royal Mail website)

We were delighted to find that 8 out of the 10 buildings in the set have been assessed under BREEAM, demonstrating that not only have these buildings been designed and constructed to become iconic structures within their communities, but they have also demonstrated a tangible commitment to sustainability.

The building certified against BREEAM are as follows:

The London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, designed by Zaha Hadid architects, achieved an Excellent rating;

Scottish Parliament – The three main parts of the building complex (the MSP Building, Queensberry House and the Assembly Buildings) were rated as “Excellent” for environmental performance under the BREEAM;

The Everyman Theatre (Liverpool), Winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize for Building of the Year (2014) also achieved an Excellent rating;

Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre an ‘excellent’ rating with a score of 74 per cent through a variety of sustainable design practices such as SUDs, renewable technologies and energy efficient design;

Library of Birmingham, the environmental and indoor climate strategy heavily influenced the building massing and form, in particular the size and shape of the atrium space, and responded to the design brief set by the client to achieve an exemplar and innovative design with a BREEAM Excellent rating.

The National Assembly for Wales building has been designed to make a significant contribution to sustainable development: the funnel in the Siambr (Debating Chamber) acts as a giant air vent and forms part of a significant strategy for cooling and ventilating the Senedd using largely natural means.

The Blavatnik Building (Formerly), Tate Modern, London had a target to use 20% less energy than a typical museum, and was awarded a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating; and

Sec Armadillo, Glasgow also achieved a Very Good rating through measures such as low-energy LED lights and 90% construction waste was recycled by adopting a dedicated waste segregation approach.